Community Colleges Pondering Student Housing

State officials are contemplating how to attract more people to Tennessee’s community colleges. And they say one way might be to start offering on-campus housing.

Right now none of the state’s 13 community colleges offers housing – which might appeal to some students with lengthy commutes, like in rural northwest Tennessee at Dyersburg Community College. Officials there say during the spring semester some 700 students drove 35 miles on average to campus.

Compared to other states, relatively few Tennesseans use community colleges, says Board of Regents Chancellor John Morgan. He says dorms might fit into a broader effort to turn that around, by making community colleges feel more “collegial.”

“Housing, athletics, student recreation opportunities, other kinds of student life… to make them feel more like a college where they want to go to begin a higher-education experience. So housing is one small piece of that overall conversation.”

Morgan says adding housing doesn’t change much for a school’s financials, calling it a “break-even” proposition. As for when you might see dorms springing up on campuses, Morgan says right now it’s a discussion, not a plan.